No Fire Without Smoke
by Revever
Summary: In which date with Belle turns into dramatic accident. Every action, including being brave, has its price and consequences. Part eleven of Something There series.


A/N: From now on this verse is open to prompts and I don't think there would be more stories without them. I don't have any new ideas for this storyline and my attention is caught by other projects. I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the series! :)))

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Lunches at Granny's were becoming gradually a ritual for Gold and Belle, but this Friday evening Bae was on the sleepover at Emma's, and they came here for dinner as well. They talked about everything, from his love of crime TV shows, to her preference of not wearing any slippers at home.

'Because searching for them requires looking away from a book?' Gold teased.

'Something like that. Unless, of course, it's a rainy or snowy day, because they considerably increase reading comfort then. You know, Gaston was always making fun of me about how I can't locate any matching slippers in my own apartment.'

'Gaston?' Gold tried to make it sound indifferent, but failed miserably. Belle giggled.

'My friend from college. Don't worry, sweetheart, there's nothing to be jealous of.'

He bowed his head slightly.

'Belle, you are the most wonderful woman I ever met. I'm jealous even about the time he spent in your presence.'

'Oh, you gentleman!' Belle exclaimed, laughing even louder, but smiling widely, obviously pleased. 'But just so you know, his feelings for me were completely requited: I loved him like a brother, and he loved me like a sister. Make that two sisters, because he was awfully big and could stand for two brothers.'

'Well, that sounds better. I'm glad that you had such a good friend in college.'

'Yeah. We kissed once, you know. It was a dare, courtesy of out another friend. We solemnly promised to never repeat the experience. From what I've heard, he has a wife and three kids by now. He always wanted to have many children.'

They stayed until closing, so when they were going to leave and head to Belle's apartment over library, it was already 11 p.m.. They were the only people on the streets, and when they heard a high-pitched scream, they didn't quite knew where it came from.

'There!' Belle pointed to the second floor of one of the building at the main street corner, to the windows of the solitary apartment over hardware store. 'Oh my God, Robert!'

Gold looked upward. Fire. He could clearly see the orange and red glow. The wind was directing the smoke away from them, but now he felt the unpleasant smell of burning plastic. And they heard a child's scream, again.

'Come, we have to help!'

'Belle, no, wait!'

She was tugging him by the sleeve and he did what he could to pull her back.

'There's someone trapped, you've heard! A child! Dammit, Robert, come! Or let me go!'

''No! You can't! Belle, it's too dangerous!'

'Fine, stay!' she tried to tear away, angry now, but he didn't let go. He couldn't let her die.

But suddenly the pain in his ankle made it impossible to maintain the balance and he fell on the pavement, hitting his knees and scratching his palms. Belle wriggled out of his grip and when he lifted his head, propped up on his elbows, he couldn't see her anywhere.

'Belle!' he screamed, looking around. The smoke became thicker, the wind must have changed direction. 'Belle!'

Someone passed him by, running in the direction of the burning building. He couldn't see it clearly and he could only stare, paralyzed, not really wanting to accept what was happening. He heard the sirens, louder and louder.

Then the whole second floor exploded in a bright flame of a flashover.

'Belle!' Gold yelled, trying to get up, then falling again. 'Belle...' He curled up into tight, sobbing ball, digging his fingers into cracked pavement until they hurt. Belle died.

He cried for what felt like a small eternity.

'Gold!' someone put hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. 'Gold!'

It was David Nolan. Gold slowly let the sheriff pull him up to the sitting position, but felt like he didn't have the strength to not sag back down. He couldn't catch his breath and the suffocating feeling was coming from both the smoke and the grief.

Nolan was talking, but he didn't understand a word. Belle was dead.

Everything started to spin and he wasn't sure anymore if he was sitting or lying. Thick smoke made it impossible to see and all noises blended into one.

When he awoke, there were bright lights everywhere and he heard a murmur of voices. It took a long while to remember what happened but then the pain over Belle's death took over everything. He didn't opened his eyes, trying to lie as still as possible to contain somehow all emotions that were threatening to flood him.

He barely registered the door creaking and male voice, then the heels. Someone's hand touched his and he shuddered involuntarily.

'Robert...'

His eyes flew wide open at that. Belle! Belle stood over him, looking sad but certainly alive.

Alive!

'How...?' he managed in a raspy voice. He didn't even have the strength to sit up.

She frowned, but then looked at him with wide eyes.

'Oh God, you thought I died!' she exclaimed, clutching his hand stronger.

She sat down on the bed, and the way the mattress dipped under her was the most wonderfully reassuring thing ever.

'I'm so sorry, Robert...'

He shook his head immediately.

'No, no, you are brave. I'm the useless one. I should have done something. But...' his voice cracked 'I couldn't let you die.'

'Robert, you were right,' Belle said quietly, clutching his hand for a dear life. 'What I tried to do was reckless and dangerous. Fortunately, someone helped me. If not for him... He run after me into the store. Dragged me out by the back doors when the floor collapsed over the front ones. A second later there was that...' she made a vague gesture with her free hand.

'Flashover,' Gold supplied. 'The temperature was so high that everything went aflame at once.' They taught him in the army all about flashovers and backdrafts, but only in theory. He actually had to wait so many years to see it. He wished he never did.

She nodded, with tears in her eyes.

'And then it collapsed and burned even harder when all the hardware store supplies... Will was shaking me and yelling at me. Then he took me around the building to where firemen and sheriff and ambulance arrived... And then I saw you, on the pavement. David told me you're not hurt, but... I've calmed only when the paramedics assured me you just fainted.'

Gold cringed at the word. There really wasn't much more equally unmanly expressions.

'Or had vasovagal reaction if that makes you feel better,' ever-observant Belle added, with a hint of a humor in her voice.

'I'd prefer that, yes. So, can I go home?'

'They want you to stay till morning. It's just few hours, let's rest a bit. You're ankle is mildly sprained. That must have happened when we fought, right? I'm so sorry again...'

'It's okay. Don't apologize for wanting to help,' he whispered, rubbing her hand. 'Did...'

Belle shook her head, letting tears drop.

'No one survived,' she whispered.

'It's not you fault.'

Belle slid off her shoes and slipped into bed with him, cuddling close.

'I know. I'm ashamed only of how I could have made the matters worse. But they are still dead. The child too, a girl.'

Gold thought of Bae, safe under Nolan's watch and probably not even aware of what happened. He wondered if Bae knew that child and what was he going to tell him tomorrow But at the end of the day he couldn't help but just be enormously happy and grateful, that both Bae and Belle were safe, and that he had Belle in his arms.

Slowly, they both drifted off into exhausted sleep.

Next day, when Gold was checked out of the hospital, they both went straight to Nolans, to pick up Bae. Belle insisted on taking a cab there and Gold, although grumpy, was grateful for the idea. His ankle still hurt and the doctor sternly ordered him to rest all he could.

'Hello, Gold. How are you feeling?' David Nolan opened the door. The sheriff tried to hold back a yawn and failed.

'I'm fine. Can I see Bae?'

'Sure, come in,' David ushered them both into the apartment and gestured to the sofa. 'Make yourself at home. Sorry about the mess, but, you know... It's been a hectic evening. Mary Margaret had to go to work early, some staff meeting, and I came home really late...' He started to pick up the dirty dishes from the table.

'It's okay, David,' Belle said showing a few stuffed toys aside and sitting down. Gold sat next to her.

'Bae and Emma are actually still asleep. They couldn't calm well into the night, so we let them oversleep. They saw the fire from the window, well, it looked dramatic. Mary Margaret said that she barely could get them to stop watching.'

'Why did she allowed it at all?' Gold demanded.

'Because it's hard to react on time when the kids are first to spot something like that,' David sighed. 'Actually, if not for them, it would take me much longer to respond.'

'Was Bae very scared?' Gold asked quietly.

'Not at all, don't worry. Mary Margaret said that they were both more excited than scared. And worried,' David frowned, suddenly serious. 'They don't know yet, but the girl that died in the fire was in parallel class. I'm not sure, but they might have been friends.'

Gold sighed.

'Only one way to know.'

'Papa!' Bae's voice suddenly filled the room. The boy was still in his green pajamas and his hair was sticking out in every direction. 'I thought you'll come much later!'

But obviously Bae wasn't worried or disappointed because he hurled himself onto his papa in a moments notice. Gold immediately hugged his son close, trying to hold back the threatening tears.

'You suit is dirty,' Bae said when Gold somehow relaxed his hold. The boy pointed at Gold's cuffs.

'Oh. I... didn't notice,' Gold said. 'I... I fell yesterday.'

'Are you okay, papa?' Bae asked immediately with his eyes wide and looked his papa up and down, checking. Gold pretended that he didn't notice both Belle's and Nolan's smiles.

'I'm fine, my ankle only hurts a bit.' There was no need to tell the boy about the hospital, certainly not here and now. Bae already hugged him again, trying to comfort him, and Gold had to use all his willpower to not show how close to tears he was. He almost lost Belle yesterday, a little girl died in the fire, it felt almost impossible that in the end he was allowed to keep both his son and the woman he loved.

'There was a fire yesterday, papa!' Bae exclaimed suddenly. 'We've seen it from the window! We told Mr. Nolan and he could go at once to help! Did you see the fire, papa?'

Gold took a deep breath. Emma came into the room in that moment, so they were able to talk with both children at once.

'I did, Bae. We both did, Belle and I. Belle tried to help even, but the fire was too big.'

He risked a quick glance at Belle, to make sure she approved of this abbreviated version of the events. With a relief he saw Belle smile.

'Bae, sweetheart...' he hesitated. 'You know, in that fire...'

'Did someone get hurt?' Bae asked immediately.

Gold nodded. His son was a smart kid and they could understand each other so well. Gold wondered if this understanding would still work when Bae was older.

'There was a little girl in the burning house.'

Bae's face fell.

'What happened to her?'

'I'm afraid she died,' Gold said quietly.

'She was called Susan Bloom,' Nolan said. Gold saw that he was holding Emma in his lap as well.

'Susan!' Emma cried, while Bae hid his face on Gold's shoulder.

'Did you know her, Emma?' Nolan asked.

'Yes, we played together in kindergarten. She wasn't in my class but we played together sometimes, she gave me that bracelet she made...'

Emma started crying and Nolan hugged her closer, rocking gently.

'Bae?' Gold asked tentatively. Both Emma and Bae understood already what dying mean and Gold was regretting the fact. He'd somehow prefer them both to be younger or just more innocent.

'I'm okay, papa. Just sad.'

Bae cuddled closer, but looked up. He wasn't crying, but corners of his lips were turned downward.

'I'm sad too, Bae.'

Gold felt that Belle pressed herself closer to his shoulder. He offered her a wan smile.

They stayed at Nolans for about half an hour longer and then the sheriff drove them home. Gold wanted to protest, but Belle had nothing of that. Before he knew, he was sprawled on the sofa, with leg elevated and Bae curled up on his one side and Belle on the other. The boy seemed recovered from the sad moment, and even if Belle looked tired, she was also much calmer than earlier.

They spent the majority of the day watching TV and eating whatever could have been found in the kitchen. Then they all fell asleep and when Gold awoke he wasn't sure what's going on for quite a long while.

It was dark, he was aching all over, but couldn't really move because of two sets of bodies and limbs tangled with his and both snoring.

And somehow, this was far happiest moment than he could have ever imagined.


End file.
